


Sailing Softly Through the Sun

by Flips_and_Quips



Series: Bound Together by Fate [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22895986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flips_and_Quips/pseuds/Flips_and_Quips
Summary: In the relative peace of the cockpit, the quiet murmur of their voices fills the space. They talk about inane things, amusing themselves with Anakin’s over-dramatised recount of his more outlandish missions. Rey finds herself smiling and laughing more than she has in a long, long while. It’s...nice.
Relationships: Rey & Anakin Skywalker, Rey/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Bound Together by Fate [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1645642
Comments: 13
Kudos: 75





	Sailing Softly Through the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N : Like my other Anirey fics, this is written purely for indulgent purposes, so please don't take this too seriously. This could arguably take place further in the future of _Chasing the Stars_ , but I couldn't quite decide _when_ it would take place, so here we are with an outtake/one-shot. Consistency and coherency? I don't know them.**
> 
> **Disclaimer** **: I do not own Star Wars, it belongs to LucasFilm Ltd. and Disney.**

* * *

The cockpit is silent, save for the odd beeps and whirs of the machinery, as the star-yacht hurtles through the Burke’s Trailing hyperlane. 

Anakin is focused on the flight instruments, making sure their ship is on its proper course. Obi-Wan had reluctantly retired to the ship’s only sleeping quarters at the behest of Anakin’s many reassurances that he had everything handled. It was like pulling teeth from a gundark but eventually Obi-Wan’s fatigue had won out and he had slipped away, but not before he gave a stern warning that they should all be spared from Anakin’s riskier manoeuvres. Anakin had smiled beatifically at that and said some placating thing in hopes of smoothing the furrow between Obi-Wan’s brow.

In the end, it had done nothing to assuage Obi-Wan’s fears but the man had left the cockpit nonetheless, trusting his Padawan to at least have _some_ sense still rattling in that thick skull of his. 

With a grunt, Anakin stretches his arms above his head. The cockpit is a little cramped for his gangly bulk — whoever owned this star-yacht must be considerably smaller — so it takes a while to arrange his limbs in a way that’s comfortable. He’s also beginning to feel the familiar buzz of restlessness beneath his skin the longer he stays stationary in his seat. Unfortunately, they are still on the first leg of the journey. 

Anakin normally loves flying — he loves the thrill of breakneck speeds and the freedom of racing through the stars — but what he can’t stand is the lull in-between travels. This part is usually a more tedious task but it has to be done, and even with the aid of autopilot, the only other option he has to occupy his time is to meditate. He’d rather dangle himself over a sarlacc pit, quite frankly, so that leaves him cooped up in the cockpit methodically checking on the navcomp for any obstructions in the way of their route. 

He is surrounded by the solitary quiet for a while longer before he’s eventually joined by Rey. He senses her approach the cockpit before he hears her enter. The door swooshes open and she slips in, quiet as a snitmouse save for the slight pad of her boots. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Anakin asks softly, shifting slightly in the pilot’s chair to peer at her questioningly. 

Rey has a brightly coloured shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders, likely pilfered from the common area. She doesn’t answer his question though, her attention instantly drawn to the sight before her. Her bright, wide eyes reflect the light of the stars as they flash past the ship’s viewport. Unbidden, Anakin feels a sudden rush of affectionate warmth at that before he quickly stifles it.

After moment’s pause, her gaze slips over to his and she flashes him an embarrassed smile, briefly tightening her hand where she’s clasped the two ends of the shawl together. “Yes,” she admits quietly, making her way over to the copilot’s chair. She drops down on it inelegantly, somehow managing to fit herself enough to curl into it, slight as she is, drawing her knees to her chest. “It feels...strange, is all. It’s too cold, for one. Nights on Jakku can get rather chilly but this is, this is _different_.” 

“Space travel takes some getting used to. The atmosphere on the ship is different, even with the assistance of temperature control and life support systems,” Anakin informs her, relaxing back into his chair as he folds his hands over his stomach. 

She simply hums distractedly at that — she’s too intently focused on the streaks of light outside the viewport to pay his words much attention. “It’s beautiful, though,” she sighs breathlessly into her knees. 

Anakin quirks a smile at that. He’s been on so many off-world missions that require long hours of space travel that sometimes he forgets to appreciate the simple things, like admiring the stars beyond the viewports, because he’s gotten used to it. “I guess it is,” he concedes with a roll of his shoulders. 

“It’s certainly different from the flight simulations,” Rey cracks a hesitant grin, flicking her eyes in his direction as she says so. 

A smile steals over his face and he huffs out an amused laugh at that, arching a brow. “Oh, I’d bet.”

With some fidgeting and adjusting, she manages to lean against her chair’s armrests as she angles herself in his direction, cocking her head slightly. “What’s it like on other planets?” She asks timidly, as if she was embarrassed by her own question, by her obvious inexperience. “I’ve read about them on all the databases I could salvage and I used to listen to the off-worlders talk about their travels and imagine what it was like to see what they did. But I reckon it’d be one thing to read and hear about planet classifications, atmosphere types, and their major settlements, and another thing entirely to actually _see_ the planets themselves.”

Anakin is momentarily caught off-guard by the raw and honest yearning in her eyes, a look he’s all too familiar with. He had been planet-side for so long, all those years ago, that the promise of adventure had always fascinated him. Rey had said that she had never left Jakku, so all of this must have been a novel experience for her. 

“You could say that,” Anakin agrees with an amused snort. “There are planets with such different cultures and climates that it’s hard to believe they’re from the same star system sometimes.”

Rey looks enraptured by his words, something painfully vulnerable and young in the soft lines of her face, still partially hidden by her knees. “Really?”

“I actually made a promise to myself that I’d be the first starpilot to see them all,” Anakin confesses sheepishly, a faraway smile tugging at his lips at the memory, though now it’s twinged with bittersweet tones as he remembers Qui-Gon’s soft, baritone voice and gentle smile. 

“Oh, and how’s that working out for you?” Her eyes twinkle in mirth and genuine curiosity, her question unknowingly drawing him from the moment of introspection. 

Sitting a little straighter, Anakin clicks his tongue against his teeth, shaking his head in mock solemnity. “I’m nowhere near close,” he sighs but eventually his composure cracks and he laughs. “But I’ve still got years ahead of me to accomplish that, among other things.”

For some odd reason, at the utterance of those words, Anakin’s chest aches and constricts. He stiffens, caught off-guard by the hollow echo in the Force. He clears his throat and shakes off the sudden heaviness blanketing him, furrowing his brows at the unexpected solemnity that pierced through him. 

Rey must have noticed the lapse in silence, the tension in the air, perspective as she was, so she gently steers the conversation back to safer waters. “Alright then, so of all the planets that you _have_ visited, which ones are among your favourites?”

Anakin grasps onto that like a lifeline, brushing off his earlier discomfort like a duck sheds water off it back. He likes to keep his insecurities and worries tucked away and close at heart — old habits die hard even now — and dwelling on them wasn’t something he was all that comfortable with at the moment.

“Naboo,” he answers without a pause and with such conviction that Rey blinks at him in askance. “It was one of the first planets I visited when I left my homeworld for the first time,” he confesses in answer to her questioning look. 

Leaning her head against the chair’s headrest, Rey lets out a soft noise of understanding as she studies him carefully. “And what’s Naboo like?”

“It’s a lush planet,” he tells her, his voice soft and faraway as he recalls memories of rolling hills and thunderous waterfalls, the melodic trill of birdsong and the heady perfume of flowers in bloom. “Full of life and so much history. And stars, the _food_. You haven’t had dessert until you’ve tried a shuura tart. It’s sweet, but it isn’t overpoweringly so.”

Anakin also remembers flashes of soft, brown eyes and the sweet scent of rominarias but he keeps those to himself, locking the thoughts away in the furthest recesses of his mind as if he was afraid that the memory of Padmé alone might echo through his training bond with Obi-Wan. 

Unaware of his brief inner turmoil, Rey smiles at Anakin’s lighthearted tone, momentarily caught up in the waves of joy he was exuding, unwittingly drawn to the bright flare of the Force that haloed his aura. 

“What’s that?” She asks, fidgeting slightly in embarrassment when he turns to look at her, his head cocked in question. She must sound pretty naïve, she realises with a slight frown, but she presses on nonetheless, her curiosity winning over her self-consciousness. “A shuura, I mean. I don’t think I’ve heard of that before.” 

Anakin’s expression eases up in understanding. He feels compassion well up in his chest but he tethers his feelings in tight before they slip past his mental shields. If Rey was anything like him at all, she would hate any sign of pity, misplaced or not. 

“Oh, well, a shuura is a type of fruit. It’s one of Naboo’s major exports and it’s often used in a lot of their local dishes. There’s even this flavoured drink that’s sold at Dex’s — that’s a diner on Coruscant — called Fizzglug and they have a shuura-flavoured variety. It’s pretty good, actually, but I much prefer caf myself.” Anakin’s rambling, he knows, but it’s nice to be able to talk about inconsequential things for once instead of drowning himself in mission briefings and philosophical debates revolving around the tenets of the Jedi Code. 

Instead of being deterred by Anakin’s long-winded babble, Rey seemed pretty keen to know more. Picking up on Rey’s interest, Anakin decides to tell her about the other things he had encountered on different planets, patiently answering her questions and adding interesting tidbits he vaguely recalls from his xenobiology and botany classes. 

In the relative peace of the cockpit, the quiet murmur of their voices fills the space. They talk about inane things, amusing themselves with Anakin’s over-dramatised recount of his more outlandish missions. Rey finds herself smiling and laughing more than she has in a long, long while. It’s... _nice_. 


End file.
